Sea Oats Sunrise at the Beach on Amelia Island, June 2011
Coastal Living on Amelia Island (Nassau County in Northeast Florida)
In a nutshell, for most folks, the main draw of living on Amelia Island is the beach and the water — the coastal lifestyle with small-town ambiance.
With Amelia Island about 2 miles across at its widest point, most homes are within walking distance (or a very easy bike ride) to the beach. Free beach access (more than 50 public beach access points) combined with uncrowded beachfront (by most people’s standards) makes for a powerful lure. (Even on peak summer holidays, if you want your own space at the beach, just walk away from the main public beach parks and there will be wide open, sparsely-populated beachfront to enjoy.) See more scenes of Amelia Island in the photo slideshow below, click on the right or left side of gallery to flip through photos… also watch lifestyle video featuring neighborhoods and more…)
Those living on Amelia can also easily island hop and enjoy neighboring islands. LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION! Amelia Island is uniquely situated, so residents can easily explore several barrier islands, snugly tucked together for easy logistical access. Thus, it’s Amelia’s natural treasures that appeal to those seeking the bounty of the beach and the simple pleasures of nature and water activities. For avid mariners who love to be on the water, Amelia Island, literally, is surrounded by waterways and by the preserved lands of three other nearby islands. To the north is Cumberland Island, GA (a protected National Seashore), to its south is Big Talbot and Little Talbot Islands (Florida State Parks). The abundance of nature and wildlife in the Amelia Island area attracts those with an appreciation of nature and desiring an outdoor active lifestyle — hiking, biking, birding, boating, fishing and paddling, and more.
Amelia’s natural bounty includes salt marsh, 13 miles of beaches, coastal hammocks, maritime forest and, of course, its waterways – Egans Creek (and the Egans Greenway preserve), the Amelia River/intracoastal, Cumberland Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. The Amelia Island State Park, 200 acres of preserve, encompasses the southern tip of this barrier island. Fort Clinch State Park with over 1,100 acres, sprawls across the island’s northern tip. Thinking about moving to Amelia Island, or buying a second home? Check out the Amelia Island lifestyle VIDEO showcasing community options in the Amelia Island area further below in this article.
LIVING ON A FLORIDA VACATION DESTINATION ISLAND HAS ITS BENEFITS
Besides the natural treasures, noted above, there are benefits to living where tourism drives the economy. Living on a Florida resort vacation island means special events, tours, festivals, fine dining and more to add to the area’s allure for visitors. Local residents reap the benefits of additional cultural events — festivals featuring art, music, film and books. A local Amelia Island artist colony produces artwork featured in over a dozen island art galleries. The island hosts two music festivals each year — the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival and the Amelia Island Jazz Festival – (plus, the Jacksonviille Symphony is not that far away). There’s also a burgeoning Amelia Island Film Festival and the annual Book Island festival, attracting accomplished authors, aspiring wordsmiths and publishers. Living on Amelia Island means there are lots of activities taking place for the enjoyment of tourists, and local residents get to experience them, too. (Check out Amelia Island Living’s custom, interactive Amelia Island Google map, highlighting the top tourist attractions, state parks, and nearby islands with zoom — satellite map, zoom to street level).
BEACH-FRIENDLY POLICY FOR MAN’S BEST FRIEND, HORSES, and VEHICLES
It may be surprising to some, but there are those who choose Amelia Island for its dog-friendly beach policy. Dog lovers like the fact that their pooches are allowed to visit the beach, as long as they’re on a leash. Plenty of beaches around Florida and elsewhere ban dogs on the beach. Some may be intrigued to learn that you can go horseback riding on the beach, one of the few places on the US east coast. (Nassau County residents can also drive onto certain limited areas of the beach with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, also rather unique for Florida these days.)
AIR TRAVEL IS A BREEZE WITH JACKSONVILLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Plus, you can’t beat the airport access. With the Jacksonville International Airport only a 30-minute drive from Amelia Island as well as an Amelia Island airport for smaller planes right on the island, air transportation is a breeze. In the age of the internet and telecommuting, there are professionals who are no longer anchored to living where their corporate offices reside. Technology has opened the door to new lifestyle options, and some choose the island life and small-town living.
Amelia Island Ritz-Carlton, Golf Club of Amelia Fairway
Apart from being a beach haven, and mariner’s paradise, there’s a few lifestyle options here in the Amelia Island area. Gated, golf resort-style living with posh community amenities by the seaside, or small-town living in Fernandina Beach. But no matter your choice, the best-known rule of real estate certainly applies here — location, location, location. Coastal real estate in Florida, and on an island, to boot.
There’s a diverse population here — native Floridians, Georgians, and a mix of “transplants,” from all over the place, as well as socioeconomic disparities, (high, middle, and low socioeconomic status). What local residents have in common is being part of a small island society — there’s plenty of community spirit, friendly people, volunteerism, and a laid-back life by the sea. No matter where you live on the island, you’re living in “Ameliaville.” It’s island time here — the pace is slower, and it’s a beach lifestyle. If you like wearing flip flops, spending time outdoors, riding bikes, playing golf, have an appreciation of coastal nature and life’s simpler pleasures, you’ll probably love it here.
WATCH AMELIA ISLAND VIDEO BY AMELIA ISLAND REALTORS ASSOCIATION SHOWCASING LIFESTYLE OPTIONS AND COMMUNITIES: “Why Amelia Island is one of the best islands to call “home.”
NASSAU COUNTY, FLORIDA DEMOGRAPHICS
Amelia Island, located in Nassau County, Florida, is home to about 20,000 people. The island is around 13.5 miles long, 2 miles across at its widest point, comprising 18.2 square miles. (Amelia Island is similar in land mass to New York’s Manhattan Island, with Manhattan being slightly larger in square miles.) Within the city limits of Fernandina Beach (about 7 square miles on the island) are 12,357 population (as of 2008 data). Nassau County, Florida’s population was just shy of 70,000 as of the latest 2008 demographic data. Thus, about 50,000 people live off the island on the mainland, in Nassau County, Florida. Population density in the county is 105 people per square mile (Nassau is considered one of Florida’s more “rural” counties), and the median age is 42.3. But the total population within 50 miles is over one million (since the city of Jacksonville is about 30 miles south). People can enjoy small town living around Amelia Island, but still near big city perks.
RESORT-STYLE LIVING: GOLF, SPAS, TENNIS ON THE OCEANFRONT
With Amelia Island Plantation and Summer Beach Resort toward the south end of Amelia Island, these two gated golf communities (with 24/7 security force) offer a diversity of neighborhoods and home styles (from condos, villas, and town homes to custom single-family homes). Inside these resorts you can choose from an oceanfront location, golf front, river front, or interior. Amenity-rich, Amelia Island Plantation and Summer Beach communities offer golf and social memberships, golf clubhouses with dining, organized social events, oceanfront clubhouses and swimming pools, miles of beachfront, and tennis courts. For those seeking golf club communities by the seaside, these amenity-rich resorts should be high on the list to investigate when considering Florida resort communities for a primary residence or second, vacation home. Note that these resorts also offer rentals for visiting tourists (particularly the villas and condos). So tourists, (especially during the peak season summer months and the island’s top tourism events) will be mingling with residents poolside and on the beach in some of these resort neighborhoods. Thus, if you seek a primary residence or second vacation home that you don’t want to rent out (and you prefer no other properties around you to be short-term rentals where tourists will be coming and going), then, before you buy a home, be sure to verify the zoning. (Within each resort, each separate complex or community can have different rental restrictions, so make sure you know what it is).
WEATHER FACTORS: HURRICANES IN FLORIDA
If you’re thinking about moving to Florida and researching hurricane risk regionally in the state, you may wish to consider this area of the First Coast — the northeastern-most area of Florida. Compared to south Florida, the west coast of Florida, and the Gulf Coast, the Jacksonville/Amelia Island area is far less prone to being in the path of a hurricane. According to Wikipedia: “Jacksonville has suffered less damage from hurricanes than most other east coast cities. The strongest effect on Jacksonville was from Hurricane Dora (level 2) in 1964, the only recorded storm to hit the First Coast with sustained hurricane force winds. The city has only received one direct hit from a hurricane since 1871, although Jacksonville has experienced hurricane or near-hurricane conditions more than a dozen times due to storms passing through the state from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, or passing to the north or south in the Atlantic and brushing past the area.”
Other weather factors to consider when thinking about living in the Amelia Island area is the seasonal climate. For Florida, Amelia Island does have a “cool” season, and temperatures occasionally drop below freezing during the winter months (usually during the night). The hard freezes may occur only a few times a winter, or sometimes it could be 15 or 20 days of overnight hard freeze temps. No matter, if you’re coming from colder climates, a winter on Amelia Island is going to seem mild and delightful. Chances of snow are about nil (there was a freak snowfall back around 1989 where an inch or two came down on the island). The average year-round temp in the Amelia Island area is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Golfers will be happy to know the abundant golf courses around the Amelia Island area are playable pretty much year round, as daytime temp averages during the coldest months are: December: 65 (F) high, 48 (F) low; January 63 (F) high, 44 (F) low; and February 65 (F) high, 47 (F) low.
Amelia Island is not a traditional “snowbird” market to the extent of south Florida. While there are, of course, some who escape colder climates and spend milder winters here in the Amelia Island, the snowbirds don’t descend in droves. While this northeastern Florida barrier island does attract some who “winter” here at resort lodging and second homes, many of those looking to escape the freezing weather elsewhere, head further south in Florida if they’re looking for the warmest temps and hoping to get tan. For example, places like West Palm and Boca, Florida see an influx of snowbirds around November to April each year — “the season” in south Florida when the tourism and restaurants are the busiest.
By contrast, the height of the tourism season here on Amelia Island is during the summer months – June, July, August – for Amelia’s hottest beach weather. We have a change of seasons in Fernandina Beach, and many folks who actually live here like this aspect of northeast Florida (especially those who have relocated from the northeastern US and are used to colder climates). When winter arrives here in the Amelia Island area, some of us look forward to the cooler weather. It’s a nice break from the heat and humidity of May through September. The winter months (November through February) typically are not beach weather on Amelia Island (other than for beachcombing, jogging or shore fishing). While occasionally you do see someone in the ocean water (likely a Canadian who finds it relatively warm here, or sporatic surfers in wet suits), most people will not get in the sea water in the wintertime. During winter in Fernandina, folks can actually wear a light coat and a warm hat on blustery days, and enjoy the glow of a cozy flame in the fireplace. Getting a hot cup of coffee on historic Centre Street at the gourmet coffee shop is definitely more savored when the air is nippy.
Also, unlike other areas in Florida, you won’t find a bunch of senior residential communities with age restrictions (55-plus only) on Amelia Island. The only retirement community for seniors is Osprey Village at Amelia Island Plantation, offering cottage homes, villas, assisted living options, Alzheimer’s care, and wellness programs in a residential setting.
SMALL-TOWN LIVING: FERNANDINA BEACH, FLORIDA
Centre Street, in historic Fernandina Beach, Florida
If resort-style living is not your thing, there’s the rest of the island’s neighborhoods. More central to north on the island is the boundaries of the city of FERNANDINA Beach. The historic district itself, called “downtown” by locals, is best known for its main corridor along Centre Street leading down to the Amelia River and the city of Fernandina’s marina. Known as the “Victorian-era seaport,” it’s the quaint, small-town setting of Fernandina that attracts tourists wishing to experience yesteryear Florida in this well-preserved historic destination. Fernandina has over 450 homes and buildings listed on the National Register of historic places. Since the word “city” connotes bigger places, Fernandina Beach exemplifies laid-back, small-town coastal living in what many people would call a village. There are numerous neighborhoods within the city limits of Fernandina Beach, with the oldest homes within or near the historic district, then spreading across the island from the harbor/river side( west) to the beach side (east). Between the downtown area of Fernandina and the beach is the “Highlands” neighborhood with a few hills (for flat Florida) — it sits higher above sea level than most of the island. Many of these homes were built prior to the 1990s. Some have coveted frontage on deep water — homes with marsh vistas and yards rolling down to the island’s primary creek, allowing private boat dockage on Egans Creek.
Built in the mid-90s into the decade of 2000, popular, newer communities on Amelia Island within the city limits, (centrally located and closest to the beach offering a neighborhood setting) include Seaside, Ocean Cay, Ocean View Estates, Ocean Sound, Beach Walk, Ocean Oaks, and Sea Grove. All these communities sit behind South Fletcher Avenue about a block or two. South Fletcher is the main beach road that runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean shoreline.
A unique neighborhood is Amelia Park, a neo-traditional community a bit more “inland” on this narrow barrier island. With charming front porches and an architectural diversity, Amelia Park homes are snug — small lots connected by sidewalks, reminiscent of neighborhoods of an earlier era. Pus, there are many other communities on Amelia Island — far too many to mention here.
Amelia Island, however, is not for everyone. With its seasonal temps, cooler than much of the rest of the state during winter, it’s not for those expecting more tropical temps year round. If you like the idea of a break in the heat with some seasonality (but no snow), Amelia Island will appeal. Amelia may be less desirable for those who like to spend a lot of time shopping at the mall. If you’re used to jumping in the car and being at the mall in ten minutes, you might find the ride to the mall too long. It’s about a 40-minute drive to the St. Johns Town Center, the Jacksonville region’s newest mall with more upscale shopping in the area (Tommy Bahama, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Kate Spade, Cole Haan, Abercrombi, Sephora) and eateries such as Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Changs, Maggiano’s Little Italy, The Captial Grille, Mitchell‘s Fish Market, Ted’s Montana Grill, Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse, and Cantina Laredo.
Interestingly, the Amelia Island area does attract other Floridians, who relocate (particularly from more southern regions of Florida), and head north to the Amelia Island area to escape more crowded areas of Florida. As noted above, Northeast Florida is also far less prone to hurricanes than south Florida or the gulf coast, another factor some consider when relocating from other areas of Florida. Thus, if you wish to escape the crowds and stress of bigger metropolitan areas and suburban sprawl, Amelia Island may just be the island of your life — your new life, that is, in “Ameliaville.”
W. B. Lawson
Editor, Amelia Island Living
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